


Running

by scarvesandjumpers



Series: The Garden You Never Get To See [3]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, Minor Violence, Steven Universe Future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:53:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22105114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarvesandjumpers/pseuds/scarvesandjumpers
Summary: Not long after he quits working at Little Homeschool, Steven runs away for a week.---Amethyst gets a call.
Series: The Garden You Never Get To See [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1583893
Comments: 25
Kudos: 329





	1. The Fall

Not long after he quits working at Little Homeschool Steven runs away for a week. 

Pearl is a mess. Greg is a mess. Garnet, while confident that Steven is both alright and will come back, is as anxious as Garnet ever gets. And Amethyst is.... confused more than anything. But he does come back, and everyone falls all over themselves to check on him, and he apologizes. 

His excuses are believable enough; he needed some time away from everything. Needed room to think. He wanted to go somewhere new, just do something different for a change. Amethyst believes him – gets it, even. She did the same thing. Sometimes she gets that same urge to just _go._ Not recently, but still. She gets it.

Then what started as a one-off fluke quickly became a habit. 

Usually it'll only be for a day, maybe two. He leaves a note on the fridge or texts Pearl and Greg – _Hey, just taking off for a few days. Don't worry. Be back soon. Love, Steven –_ and everyone waits with baited breath for him to return, and he always, always does. 

They try to get him to at least let them know when he's thinking about leaving, but it never really happens. Amethyst wouldn't see a problem with it if he seemed even a bit more at ease when he returns, but he never ever _does._ He's always the same way he's been the past year or so – quiet, withdrawn, hiding his thoughts and feelings. It's not like him, and it unsettles all of them the more he does it.

One night Amethyst overhears Pearl and Garnet talking about it in the kitchen while Steven is asleep. 

“I just wish he would _talk_ to us,” Pearl sighs. Amethyst hears the rhythmic sound of Pearl unfolding and refolding laundry, something that she only really does when she's anxious, and Amethyst knows that all of the clothes in the house – even the rare scraps of clothing that the Gems own and wear – are likely bundled up in her favorite sea-foam green mesh hamper that Greg got her for Christmas the previous year. 

“It's nothing personal,” Garnet says firmly, not a trace of doubt in her voice. “Nothing to do with us. He'll work through this, and when he's ready he'll come to us.”

_But it was personal,_ Amethyst wanted to shout, _and he wouldn't._

She wasn't sure why she was so certain, but she just knew in her gut that he wouldn't. That they would be the last people he goes to with whatever it is he's struggling with. They were too close, they knew him too well. Their histories were so entwined with each others that any confession, any admittance would feel like a betrayal, or resentment. It was the same reason it took Amethyst and Pearl so long to become actual, real friends, and why it took so long for her to feel respected by Garnet. She even recognizes that Steven might feel that way for her, even if their relationship is very different from his relationship with Pearl and Garnet. 

They were too close, and he loves them all too much. The rejection would suck from a stranger, but it would be nearly unbearable from family. 

***

Her phone rings at three AM. 

Amethyst grumbles, squirming unhappily on her makeshift bed, groping for her phone. She shifts onto her belly when she finds it and immediately plunges her knee in something wet and sticky – gross. 

She groans and swipes to accept the call without looking. “Yo, this better be good.”

“Um. Hello?” Mumbles back a young, slightly slurred, and unfamiliar female voice. Amethyst frowns, raking a hand through her hair. 

“Yeah, what?”

“Is this – is this his sister?” 

“.... Is what who now?” What the fuck? She pulls the phone from her face and reads the caller ID. 

Steven.

Wait. What? Steven? _But he's in bed -_

Well. Obviously not. 

Amethyst presses the phone to her face, worrying at her lower lip. Who the hell is using Steven's phone? How long has he been gone? He must have snuck out while they were sleeping.

The girl on the other end lets out a shaky groan, and awareness hits Amethyst like a slap to the face. “Who is this?” She barks, shifting onto her knees. 

“Um – I'm – Sherry – uh – he said to call his sister?”

“Steven?”

“I guess? I donno what his name is, he just – there was a fight, and he's pretty drunk, he's like, freaking out, and he said to - “

_Drunk?_

“Where are you?” It comes out harsher than she wants, but panic has filled her every limb. She scurries to her feet, wiping the gunk off of her pants and scrambling for a hair tie. She piles her hair in a messy bun on top of her head and launches herself out of the room. 

The girl names a bar in a town that, thankfully, isn't much more than a good half hour's drive away. Amethyst promises to be there soon, begs the girl to stay with him, and kills the call. 

Amethyst sneaks out of the house as quietly as she can, discovering what she expected – the Dondai is gone. She starts walking to It's A Wash to grab one of Greg's spare rides. She doesn't really like driving, but needs must. 

Greg's trailer is set up not far from the car wash, but his garage is closer to the car wash itself. She lets herself in, moving past his used sports cars and old vintages that Peridot and Pearl like to tinker with to her favorite of the little fleet; a beat up old Dord truck, red paint peeling. She shapeshifts her pointer finger into the ignition. The car starts, and she backs out of the garage feeling strangely calm, her mind carefully, pointedly blank. 

***

The first thing she notices about the bar is that one of the front windows is completely smashed in. There's a tired looking employee putting up plywood to cover the window, and what looks like a cop car parked at the side street.

She sees the Dondai parked outside too, thankfully, but no sign of Steven out front. Fearing the worst (what the hell would they do if he got arrested?) she kills the engine, slipping out of the car and scans the entrance for any sign of him; a wet, thick sob from the alley beside the building catches her attention, and she hurries between the buildings, seeking the source. And there he is. 

Steven is curled up, wet, fat tears trailing down his red, splotchy face. He looks completely out of it, half passed out; his hair mussed, his shirt stained with something that looks suspiciously like blood, and his knuckles are raw. There are two girls next to him; one chubby and serious looking with pretty blonde hair tied back in a tight ponytail, the other curvy and dark skinned with dyed red hair cut into a dramatic asymmetrical bob. The blonde has Steven's phone, wallet, and – thank the stars – the keys to the Dondai clutched in her hand. The redhead has a bruise blooming on her cheek, and the blonde clutches her hand tight as they lean together. The three of them are all sitting on the dirty concrete alleyway ground, crowded up by the dumpster and a side door leading inside of the bar. The blonde perks up when she sees Amethyst, and she shifts, one arm held out protectively over Steven and the other girl. 

“Are you the sister?” She asks cautiously, a warning in her tone. Amethyst nods silently, and the blonde relaxes. She nods and holds out the phone, wallet, and keys; Amethyst takes them and sinks to her knees in front of Steven. 

“I'm Ronnie,” She says quietly as Amethyst looks Steven over. “My friend is the one who called you. Sherry?” Amethyst nods, glancing over at the other girl. 

“What the hell happened?” She asked. As Ronnie spoke she reached out to touch Steven, checking for – Shit. She didn't know. She didn't know what she was doing. 

“Sherry told me she was being harassed by this guy in the bar and your brother – Steven, I guess? - came in and told the creep to leave her alone. Next thing she knew she was getting backhanded by the guy. Probably thought he was her boyfriend or something and wanted to piss him off. Then your brother punched the guy through the window.” 

Ah. That explained the window, at least.... 

“ _Then_ your brother started freaking out. He was pretty far gone already, but I guess it wigged him out when the dude didn't jump back up after being shot through solid glass. He managed to convince himself that he killed him. Sherry got him out of the bar in the confusion and hid back here. She told me he was begging her not to call his mom and dad, so she asked him who she should call, and he said his sister. She called me, she called you, and here we are.” 

“Well, shit....” Amethyst sighed, running a hand through her hair. 

The sound of her voice seemed to make Steven perk up for a moment. His eyes, puffy and red, blinked open, and he looked around, lost, seeking her voice. He saw her and immediately his face crumpled. He let out a weak, pathetic sob of her name - “A-Amethyst, I -” and slumped towards her. She caught him before he crashed to the ground, holding him up as he sobbed helplessly into her shoulder. 

“The guy's fine – concussed, probably, but not dead. I think your brother's worse off, honestly.” 

“ _Thank you_ ,” Amethyst said, eyes wide. “You didn't have to stick around and wait for me to come get him, I – you kept him safe. I don't even know what to say, man.” 

“Don't mention it.” Ronnie gave her a tight, tired smile back. She pushed herself to stand, bringing her friend with her. “It's what I'd want someone to do for my sibling. You two gonna be okay?”

“Yeah. I've got him now. Hey – have a good night,” she called out as Ronnie and Sherry turned the corner. She turned her attention to the sobbing teen on her shoulder and sighed heavily, heart heavy but flooded with relief. 

He was scared and drunk and hurting, but he was alive, and _-_

And when he needed her most, when things were at their worst.... he wanted her. 

He's taller than her by a decent stretch now, but it's still not difficult to load him into the Dondai on her own. She lays him on his side in the back seat and uses his keys to start the car, heading not for Beach City but for the nearest Nightz Inn. There was no way she was bringing him home like this. 

  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not 100% happy with this chapter but im tired of fucking with it so I hope you all enjoy!

Their room is small and musty. There are two twin beds, an adjoining bathroom, and an ancient box TV set up on top of a wood-paneled dresser. Amethyst glances around the room with a sigh – it'll do. 

It takes her longer than she wanted to admit to heave Steven out of the Dondai and into their room – the only one available that she could afford with what Steven had in his wallet is an upstairs room, and Steven, despite his best efforts, still hasn't quite passed out. He keeps squirming and jolting in her arms, whining and letting out half-sobs of distress. It doesn't exactly make it easy to get him upstairs. 

She rolls him onto the nearest twin with a grunt of effort and makes a face when he immediately rolls onto his side and pukes onto the carpet. “Fantastic.” 

She leaves him to fend for himself for a moment as she goes to kill the engine in the car. When she comes back up Steven is on his side on the bed, murmuring pitifully to himself. It was difficult to watch. 

Amethyst sighs, rolling up the sleeves of her jacket and crawling onto the bed behind him. “Alright, big guy,” she grunts. “That's enough feeling sorry for ourselves. Let's get you out of these clothes, okay?” 

Steven is putty under her hands as she eases his letterman from his shoulders and carefully peels his ruined shirt from his chest. She finds a wastebin under a nightstand and tucks it by his face by the bed, then goes to the bathroom to pour him a paper cup of water and collect herself. 

She braces her hands on the sink, staring at her reflection in the watermarked mirror in front of her. Her hair is a mess, eyes tired and face heavy. Sometimes she wonders if Gems need sleep after all, because all she wants in that moment is to fall face-first into a pillow and pass out for the next few days. But she can't do that, not when Steven needs her. She pulls her phone from her pocket and sends a quick text to everyone who needs to know – Pearl, Greg, and Garnet. She doesn't hesitate to lie about what's going on, why she and Steven and the Dondai are gone. She and Steven can talk when he's sobered up about what all they'll tell the others, but for now she's sure as shit gonna cover for him. 

She hears Steven sicking up again in the next room and grimaces, then locks her phone and tosses it onto the dresser as she returns to the main room. 

***

Steven is much the same for the next few hours. He drifts in and out of consciousness no more sober than he was when she found him, but after the third micronap he seems at least more aware of himself and his surroundings. Amethyst wakes from her own doze to the sound of Steven calling for her. She hurries to his side. 

“Hey, man, I'm right here, what's up?”

“Am....ethyst.... I....” He hiccups, clutching at his head, and curls into himself. “Ooh, God, I feel.... _bad_.” 

Amethyst blinks. “Well. Yeah. You're wasted, dude. Which we're _definitely_ going to talk about when you've sobered up, so just prepare your ass for that right now, bud.” Steven grimaces, as anticipated, and shifts onto his belly, head facing towards her spot on the edge of the bed. He seems at least somewhat alert. In her admittedly limited experience with drunk people, that was a good sign. 

“Didn't.... mean to drink s'much....” He mumbles. He rubs the back of his hand over his face, barely noticing the bruises and cuts on his knuckles. “Just kinda.... happened.” 

“Mmhm.”

She watched Steven's face crumple and, despite how _angry_ she was with him for being so _stupid_ about this, she felt a pang of pity in her chest. “I hurt someone, Amethyst. I hurt him. I hurt him, he's – what if he's _dead?_ ” Steven choked out a sob. Amethyst gritted her teeth – no way were they going down that rabbit hole, not again. 

“You didn't kill him. He's fine, just concussed. Besides, sounds like he had it coming, yeah?” 

“He was bugging... her..... wouldn't listen to her, I got – _mad.”_ He sounds it, too. She's not unfamiliar with an angry Steven, but this kind of anger was rare. “I just – I punched him. Full-force.” 

“Oh, _shit.”_ That at least explained some of his panic. Steven was used to fighting Gems, not human beings. Humans were soft, squishy, easier to permanently hurt or kill; Gems, not so much. And with how loosey-goosey getting plastered must have made him.... 

“I don't like hurting people. That's what _she_ did. She hurt – she hurt Spinel, she hurt dad, she hurt Pearl, she hurt – she hurt Garnet and Sapphire and Ruby and Amethyst and _everyone -_ ” He choked out a dry sob, gripping weakly at his head. “I'm not her. I'm not her. _I'm not_....” And then Steven trailed off, drifting to a fitful sleep. 

Amethyst stared, words simply.... lost. Her veins were lined with ice. What could she say, what could she do except.... wait?

***

Sometime that night – morning? - Amethyst fell asleep next to Steven. She was woken up by the sound of the bathroom door slamming open – she tumbled out of Steven's bed and jumped to her feet, adrenaline pumping through her. She watches Steven fall to his feet in front of the toilet in the bathroom and hears him let loose a painful sounding retch. She grimaced. Ugh. Gross. 

She waits it out a bit, waits for Steven's body to somewhat settle before she marches to the doorway to look at him. His legs are spread, one on either side of the toilet, and he rests his head against the toilet lid and lets out a very aware, very pained groan. 

She clears her throat and half-shouts,“So! Mister Party Boy has awoken!” 

(And maybe, just maybe, she gets a little bit of sadistic pleasure out of his whimper of pain. That's what he gets for drinking so _stupid._ )

“Y'know, the other three convinced themselves you're just too good a kid to do the whole under-aged drinking, teenage rebellion bullshit, but I always knew you had it in you. I kind of figured you'd do it a bit smarter, but hey, you're just full of surprises recently, aren't you?”

She leans against the doorway and watches him plop his cheek on the toiletseat to glare at her. He doesn't seem to be reacting that much to the volume of her voice, but more the general funkiness that comes with recovering from a wild, horrible night. 

“I know you're not hungover. Or like, at least not too bad. You're seventeen, you don't _get_ hungover.” He lets out a vaguely agreeable sound, and she watches him push himself upright. She crosses her arms over her chest, unimpressed. Silence stretches on. And on. And on. 

“So, what, nothing to say?” 

“.... Amethyst - “

“Oh-ho, he speaks!” She propped her hands on her hips, brows high. Steven rolled his eyes, waits for her to finish. “Tell me something, Ste-man – is this what you've been doing every time you run off? Getting drunk and picking fights?” She's almost surprised in herself, in how angry she sounds, but – but fuck it, she _is_ angry. She can't be the cool, relaxed one all the time.

“.... No. Not usually,” Steven mumbles. His voice is scratchy and hoarse, all of the fight gone out of him. “I mean – I've.... drank before, but I've never _been drunk._ Not like that.” He grimaces. “Don't think I'm going to repeat it, either.”

She wants to scream at him, wants to _yell_ at him, but she knows she can't. At least not yet. He'd just shut down or push back and God, it's hysterical that she can see so much of herself in him right now. 

“Steven.... I love you, and I'm not gonna tattle or – whatever. Pearl and Greg don't have to know.” He seems to melt with relief, bracing his elbow on the toilet bowl and resting his head in his palm, his eyes fluttering shut. She approaches him and crouches next to where he's sat, reaching out to touch his shoulder. “But buddy, you _gotta_ meet me halfway. What.... the hell happened? What is all this? You're smarter than this, man.” 

“I know - “

“No, you _don't,_ Steven. You -” Her voice breaks, and his eyes snap open, shocked. “You scared the shit out of me. I'm angry as hell but more than anything I'm _relieved._ Anything could have happened.”

“I know, I know, I'm _sorry_.”

She pulls him into a hug, and Steven grips her weakly. She holds him tight, too tight, but he lets her. 

When did he get so big in her arms? 

“..... I really didn't plan for this. Any of it. I just lost track of how much I was drinking, and then that guy was being such a jerk to that girl..... He made me so _mad,_ Amethyst, and next thing I knew I was punching him and punching him and -” He shivers. She pulls back, frowning deeply, and he, sheepishly, murmurs, “I wasn't expecting him to bleed. That's weird, right? People bleed. Human people bleed.” 

“You've never really punched any humans.” 

“Yeah. It freaked me out.” He gives her a nervous look, worrying at his lower lip. “He's.... okay, right? You weren't lying?”

“Yeah. According to the girls that saved your big ass last night, yeah, he's fine, just a concussion and a busted window.” She watched Steven melt with relief and smiled tightly. That skeeveball didn't deserve Steven's worry, but he still had it.

“Right,” Amethyst grunted, popping up onto her feet, hands on her hips. “I'm gonna go get you something greasy and salty as hell to eat – fingers crossed I can find some veggie sausages or something. Can I trust you'll still be here when I get back?”

“Yeah. I'm not going anywhere. Promise.” Steven's smile was sad, but, well – could you blame her for doubting? He was flighty as hell these days. 

“Kay. Be back. We've got the room till twelve, so feel free to let your hair down and get comfy.” 

***

One hour and a plate of hashbrowns and veggie sausages later, Amethyst and a freshly showed Steven were standing outside of the door to their room, taking in the fresh air. Steven looked better after eating, as he normally did. Amethyst polished off the leftover grease and paper plates. 

She just.... looked at him, looked at the line of his jaw, at the stubble he'd grown in overnight. When he was little he'd looked like Rose – all soft and pink and curly. Now, though, he's all Greg as she remembered him when they'd first met. The spitting image, almost. It was bittersweet to see. But it suited him. 

He wasn't Rose, despite the fears he obviously still had. He wasn't her at all. 

“I love you, kid,” Amethyst said. He wordlessly reached out a hand, and their fingers linked. They'd have to leave soon. Steven would drive her to the bar and she'd hop into the Dord, and she'd follow him home. They'd stop at some reststop for coffee and doughnuts before heading to Beach City and figure out what, exactly, they were going to tell the Gems and his dad about last night; they'd get their story straight and Garnet would see right through it, naturally. But Amethyst would stick to it, take the events of the night with her till she shattered if need be. 

But first.... 

“.... Hey. Promise me that you'll tell me when you're planning to go drinking. Promise me you'll let me know where you're going, and that you'll call me if shit gets too real. I'm not telling you to stop,” she insisted, squeezing his hand. “I'm just asking you let me be your backup. Okay?”

“.... Yeah. Yeah, okay. I will. Promise.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to say thank you for all the support I've had recently! All of the comments especially help motivate me to write more, and I'm really enjoying writing this series! Thank you all ❤️


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